Lighting fixture



April 4, 1967 D. E. WOOLEVER LIGHTING FIXTURE Filed Dec. 22, l964AWUP/VEV United States Patent 3,312,815 LIGHTING FIXTURE Dwight E.Woolever, 3671 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, Calif. 90007 Filed Dec. 22,1964, Ser. No. 420,375 4 Claims. (Cl. 240-73) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREA lighting fixture having a wall plate that mounts a forwardly extendinglamp-socket unit, a U-shaped housing around the socket unit with itsends staked to the wall plate, the housing having outer and inner pairsof grooves along the inside face thereof, the former grooves forlampshade holders that extend oppositely from the fixture, and thelatter grooves for covers for the socket unit and which have openingsthrough which the lampshades extend.

This invention relates to a lighting fixture which, while adapted forgeneral use, is especially adapted for use in bathrooms, over oralongside medicine cabinets.

An object of the present invention is to provide a lighting fixturecomprising several components that are capable of being firmly assembledwithout rivets, screws, solder or other such securing means, theinvention contemplating simple upset or deformation of lugs or tabs onone outer component extending through slots in another outer component.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lighting fixture, asabove characterized, in which the other components of the fixture areretained in operative position by the assembled outer components.

A further object is to provide a lighting fixture, as indicated, inwhich one of said other components, on opposite sides of the fixture,comprises a masking or enclosing plate to hide inner details of theconstruction and, thereby, provide a fixture of attractive andeye-appealing configuration.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a lightingfixture, as characterized, and which is provided with a lamp-socketcomponent that is retained in nonshifting, operative position, withoutscrews, rivets, solder,

or cement, by two opposed inner components, thereby greatly simplifyingmanufacture and assembly.

This invention also has for its objects to provide such means that arepositive in operation, convenient in use, easily installed in a workingposition and easily disconnected therefrom, economical of manufacture,relatively simple, and of general superiority and serviceability.

The above objects are realized in a lighting fixture provided with awall plate having slots to receive tabs or lugs of a housing member, andalso an opening for snapretention engagement with said plate of anelectrical lampsocket fitting and disposed with-in said housing. Beforesaid tabs or lugs are staked to the wall plate, two oppositely disposedlampshade-holding members, and two plates that mask or conceal saidshade-holding members, are mounted in the housing member by being slidinto grooves provided in said member. Said shade-holding members areretained in spaced relation in the grooves provided in the housing, thesame confining the lampsocket fitting between them to render saidfitting stable in the assembly.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novelcombinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear inthe course of the following description and which is based on theaccompanying drawing. However, said drawing merely shows, and thefollowing description merely describes, one embodiment 3,312,815Patented Apr. 4, 1967 of the present invention, tration or example only.

In the drawing, like reference characters designate similar parts in theseveral views.

FIG. 1 is a plan View of a lighting fixture according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view as taken, generally, along the line 3-3of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a face view of the mounting plate with broken portions of thehousing and other components connected to said plate.

The lighting fixture that is illustrated comprises, generally, amounting plate 5, a lamp-socket unit 6 extending forwardly from saidplate and having snap-retention means 7 connecting the unit 6 to saidplate, a housing 8 extending forwardly from the plate 5 around the unit6, staked or twisted tabs 9 fixedly connecting said housing to theplate, two opposed lamp-shade-holders 10 mounted in the housing 8 oneither side of the unit 6 to retain the latter centered between them,and two plates 11 also mounted in said housing and on the outsid-es ofsaid holders 10 to conceal the same and provide the fixtures with afinished-surface appearance.

The mounting plate 5 comprises a rectangular plate having its four edgesbevelled at 15 in the usual manner for wall plates, thereby providing aspace 16 rearward of the front wall 17 of said plate. Holes 18 formounting screws are provided in the usual manner. A central cruciformhole 19 in said wall 17 is flanked at the sides by two pair of slots 20and by symmetrical-1y arranged upper and lower slots 21 verticallycentered on the hole 19. The outer surface of the plate 5 is shown withdecorative graining 22, the same being indicative of any surfaceornamentation, texture, or the like, commonly used on such surfaces forenhancing the appearance thereof.

The lamp-socket unit 6 is shown as an insulated body 23 which, in thisinstance, is formed to have oppositely extending and similar lampsockets 24 for mounting lamp bulbs 25. As seen in FIG. 2, said sockets24 extend oppositely vertically, the lamps 25 extending verticallytherefrom. A metal bracket 26 has an end 27 that bears against the frontface of the wall 17, the same extending as a pair of diverging legs 28from said end 27 to a connection at 29 to the body 23 of the unit 6.

The snap-retention means 7 is shown as two spaced spring members 30 thatare connected to said bracket end 27 and are biased in a direction tocatch the opposite edges 31 of the cruciform hole 19. Said springmembers 30 are sloped toward each other so they may be inserted throughhole 19 from the front, be compressed toward each other as theyencounter the edges 31, and then snap out as they pass said edges andeffect connection with the wall plate 5. It will be noted that the unit6 extends in the manner of a cantilever from the wall plate and, whilesecured by the means 7 against frontto-bac:k movement, may have limitedup-and-down movement with the means 7 as a fulcrum.

The housing 8 is formed as a metal extrusion having a wall 32 with twopair of grooves adjacent to and along the opposite edges of a wall. Asseen best in FIG. 2, each said pair of grooves comprises an outer groove33 and a groove 34 inward thereof. Said wall 32 has a U- shaped formwith a rounded end portion 35 and parallel portions 36 extending fromthe portion 35 and provided with tabs 9 extending from the ends thereof.The latter extend through the slots 20 in the wall plate 5 and, whenstaked or twisted, effect a firm connection between the plate 5 and thehousing 8. It will be noted that the staked tabs 9 extend into space 16but not therebeyond.

view as taken on the line 22 of which is given by way of illus- Eachlampshade-holder 10 is provided with a plate portion 37 that has asliding fit in one of the grooves 34, the holders being slid into saidgrooves 34 before the housing 8 is staked to the wall plate 5. Eachholder 10 is provided wih an embossment 38 at its end that fits into therounded end portion 35 of the housing. Said holders are assembled in thehousing with the embossments exending toward each other, the depth ofthe embossments being such that the same are spaced apart a distancesubstantially equal to the width of the bracket legs 28 of the bracket26.

Said embossments 38 are formed with clearance holes 39 through which thelamp sockets 24 extend. Hence, the lamp-socket unit 6, particularly thecantilever end thereof, is confined between the embossments 38 andretained firmly in place due to the engagement of opposite edges ofplate portion 37 in the grooves 34. Embossments 40, arranged on a helix,are provided in the annular wall 41 of each embossment 38, the sameserving to threadedly engage the open ends of lampshades 42 that extendin opposite directions from the housing 32.

It is not practical to provide a finish surface on the outer faces ofthe plate portions 37 because of the die formation of the embossments38. It is more practical to provide the plates 11 to conceal said plates37 and to insert the same into the grooves 33 at the time the holders 10are assembled, as hereinbefore described. The plates 11, being fiat, maybe formed of sheet metal or other material ornamented or textured asdesired, or to suit the appearance of the outer surface of the wallplate 5. A tab 43 on each plate 11 extends through one of the slots 21and is staked to the Wall plate to keep said plate in fixed position. Acurved edge 44 on the outer end of each plate 11 affords clearance forthe lampshades 42.

The wires 45 for conducting electric current to the lamp sockets 24extend from the body 23 through opening 31 in the'wall plate and betweenthe spring members 30 to a current source.

While the foregoing has illustrated and described what is nowcontemplated to be the best mode of carrying out the invention, theconstruction is, of course, subject to modification without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it is not desiredto restrict the invention to the particular form of constructionillustrated and described, but to cover all modifications that may fallwithin the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is:

1. A lighting fixture comprising:

(a) a wall plate,

(b) a lamp-socket unit extending forwardly from the face of the wallplate,

(0) a U-shaped housing having ends staked to and extending from the wallplate around the mentioned unit,

((1) said housing comprising a wall having a groove along each edgethereof and extending along the inner side of said wall from one endthereof to the other,

(e) two similar lampshade-holders with the edges thereof engaged in saidgrooves, said holders having portions engaged with opposite sides of thementioned unit to hold the same steady,

(f) the housing wall having additional grooves outward of and parallelto the mentioned grooves, and

(g) a plate having edges engaged in the latter grooves to cover thelamp-socket unit.

2. In a lighting fixture having a wall plate,

(a) a U-shaped housing comprising a wall having a rounded portion andopposed parallel leg portions with the ends thereof staked to the wallplate,

(b) a lamp-socket unit having one end in snap-retention engagement withthe wall plate and extending in the housing toward and spaced from therounded portion thereof, said unit including a body having opposite lampsocket portions centered on the center of the rounded portion of thebody, and

(c) a pair of lampshade-holders having sliding engagement with thementioned portions of the housing wall and formed with embossments withcentral openings therein concentric with the lamp socket portions of thementioned unit, said ernbossments being spaced apart a distance suitableto engage and retain the extending portion of said unit centered in thehousing.

3. In a fixture according to claim 2, a pair of plates having slidingengagement with said housing wall portions and disposed on the outsidesof the shade-holders.

4. In a fixture according to claim 3, the inner surface of said housingportions being provided with inwardly facing parallel grooves, edgeportions of said shade-holders and said plates being engaged in saidgrooves, and means effecting a staked connection between the wall plateand the ends of the housing legs.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,622,934 3/1927White 24073 1,631,997 6/1927 Benjamin 240-73 1,681,186 8/ 1928 Jones etal. 240-73 2,428,167 9/1947 Linton 240--2 2,824,208 2/1958 Bauer 240733,117,730 1/1964 Jones 240-78 NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner R. M.SHEER, Assistant Examiner.

1. A LIGHTING FIXTURE COMPRISING: (A) A WALL PLATE, (B) A LAMP-SOCKETUNIT EXTENDING FORWARDLY FROM THE FACE OF THE WALL PLATE, (C) A U-SHAPEDHOUSING HAVING ENDS STAKED TO AND EXTENDING FROM THE WALL PLATE AROUNDTHE MENTIONED UNIT, (D) SAID HOUSING COMPRISING A WALL HAVING A GROOVEALONG EACH EDGE THEREOF AND EXTENDING ALONG THE INNER SIDE OF SAID WALLFROM ONE END THEREOF TO THE OTHER, (E) TWO SIMILAR LAMPSHADE-HOLDERSWITH THE EDGES THEREOF ENGAGED IN SAID GROOVES, SAID HOLDERS HAVINGPORTIONS ENGAGED WITH OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE MENTIONED UNIT TO HOLD THESAME STEADY,